Rosset exit closes chapter on UBS' SSA business

LONDON, May 30 (IFR) - UBS’ head of sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) trading Sebastien Rosset has left the bank, marking the successful unwind of a pool of SSA assets deemed too capital intensive by the bank.

Rosset was spared in the widespread cull across UBS’ fixed income business last year; kept on to manage an SSA portfolio labelled “non-core”, said market sources familiar with the situation.

Most of his SSA colleagues across origination, syndicate and trading were let go, or have since resigned, as the bank shifts back towards its wealth management roots.

While the bank is still a primary dealer for a number of sovereigns, and is reportedly still quoting for some supranational and agency transactions, Rosset’s departure appears to be a near final blow for UBS’s SSA franchise.

UBS has, however, managed to win bookrunner mandates for the UK’s GBP3.75bn tap of its March 2052 inflation-linked bond in February this year, and Italy’s new EUR6bn 4.75% 30-year bond earlier this month.

Rosset’s exit follows other resignations across fixed income in recent months.

Anthony Tobin, executive director of financial institutions group (FIG) syndicate at UBS, resigned from the bank earlier this month and is set to join RBC, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Allegra Berman, UBS’ co-head debt capital markets business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa, and an SSA veteran, left the bank at the end of March and has since been appointed Global Head of Public Sector Banking at HSBC.

UBS declined to comment. Sebastien Rosset could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by John Geddie; editing by Alex Chambers)